Stop crying Simon. It hurts, does it? Well too bad, this is what you wanted. It’s all your fault you know. I hope you’re happy, because I’m not.

Simon’s eyes shot open. For the second time in a week, he had been awoken by a nightmare in a bed that he didn’t recognize. Luckily, there was something he did recognize. A familiar redhead was sleeping in a chair next to his bed. Her arm was propped up on the side of the chair, her face pressing into it, and a line of drool slowly dripping down.

Simon looked around, he was obviously in a hospital of some sort, complete with a curtain surrounding the area his bed was in. He suddenly realized that there was a great pressure on his body, like he was bandaged. As he thought about why he would need bandages, he remembered what happened right before he passed out…

No. It was better to forget about that. If he dwelled on it, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. He should just keep moving. He tried to sit up, but the pain was unbearable.

“Shit!”

Lucy’s eyes jerked open at the sound of Simon swearing. She looked like she was about to panic, but then she calmed down.

“Simon, thank goodness you’re okay.”

“Okay being a relative term. I don’t think I can move at all.”

“Yup. The doctors said you’re lucky to be alive.”

“Great. Looks like I’m out of commission for a while.”

“Not exactly. We found some old bandages that had runes similar to the ones you put on your own bandages, and apparently they’re better than yours.”

“Hey!”

“Because we can get out of here by tomorrow evening!”

“That’s perfect! Wait… you said we? Why would both of us not be able to get out of here yet?”

“Uh,” she pulled down her shirt a bit to show rows of bandages across her chest, “I broke a few ribs and banged myself up a bit but I’m fine.”

“But how? You were just helping the townsfolk escape and… no. You didn’t”

“I kind of fought the Troll… and won.”

Simon groaned, “I couldn’t beat it, but you come out of nowhere with your fancy gun and show me up! Great! Perfect! I’m glad!”

They both had a good laugh, before Simon decided to bring up the Troll in the room.

“So… what’s the story on the gun?”

“Honestly? I don’t know for sure. It belonged to my dad. He used to grab it and use it to take care of monsters that would come towards town. Eventually monsters stopped coming. He called the gun Salvation. Seems like a fitting name.”

“Your dad sounds like a cool guy.”

“Yeah, he was.”

“Maybe I can meet him someday.”

“No, you can’t.”

“What? But you said your parents just left. I might see him while I’m travelling around and…”

“Simon… my parents are dead.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. I still have a few mementos of him. I also had my dad’s journal, but I guess that’s long gone now.”

“Wait… Is his journal that leather book you always read?”

“Yeah?”

“Reach into my bag! I can’t move my arms so you’ll have to do it. Just imagine what you want and you’ll find it!”

Lucy grabbed the small bag from next to Simon’s bed and pulled out the book, “This is it! You found it?”

“Yeah, funny story, it was under my…”

His mind suddenly made a connection.

“Zachary North…”

“Yeah, that was my dad’s name.”

“Zachary North the Hunter?”

“I guess.”

“And that means your mom was Charlotte North the Undying!”

Lucy stared down at her book. Simon realized his mistake.

“Oh, I am so sorry. That name must be really inconsiderate now.”

“No, it’s fine. They just called her that because of how good of a doctor she was. Could treat herself even if she was bleeding out. At least, that’s what dad always said.”

“I’m really sorry about your loss, but are you seriously telling me that your parents were the famous North adventuring duo?”

Lucy smiled, “Yeah. That’s what I heard. The main reason I didn’t come down to Freemont a lot was because I didn’t want anybody telling me how great they were.”

“Oh. I guess I seem like a jerk now huh?”

She punched him in the arm, “Yeah, you are a jerk. But you’re a good jerk. In fact, I think I want to share something with you.”

Lucy reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She began to unfold it and put it in front of Simon’s face. He realized with a start that it was the wanted poster from when they had went into town.

“Death’s Hand…”

There was no face on the wanted poster. Instead there was a symbol. It resembled a skull, but near the top the skull split into five protrusions, resembling fingers.

“What is this?”

Lucy refolded the poster, “Do you recognize that symbol?”

“No, I’ve never seen it before.”

“I guess it was a long shot. If you knew about them I might have been able to find them.”

“Woah, wait. What are you talking about?”

She took a deep breath, “Five years ago, my parents were killed by people bearing this symbol. I remember everything so clearly. It was foggy out. A fog so thick it would have rolled in through the windows had they not been shut. There was a knock at the door, and my dad went to check. When he closed the door he went into the other room to get his gun. He patted me on the head and said not to worry, and he went outside. Shortly after my mother said that she should follow him, but I should stay inside.

“I remember looking out the window, my hands in circles around my eyes, pressed against the glass. I saw my parents, and I saw three people standing in front of them. I shouldn’t have been able to see anything because of the fog, but somehow I saw that symbol, as though it were glowing. There was a man with big hair who had it on his forehead, a thin man with it on his bicep, and a third who I couldn’t see clearly who had it on the center of his chest, larger than the others.

“I pressed my ear to the glass to hear what they were saying and I heard a voice. A voice that I still hear in my nightmares. I can’t even remember what it said, because when it spoke, my mind didn’t work. I wanted to trust it, it was deep and sickly sweet, but at the same time I wanted to hide and never come out. I only remember hearing one thing clearly. ‘Kill them’. And then I heard two strange noises.

“I brought my head back so I could look out the window again. I saw the men walking away, and my parents… they… they were just lying there. I ran to the door, but when I opened it, the fog poured in. It didn’t feel like fog, it felt like smoke, pouring into my lungs, choking me. I passed out, and when I woke up the next morning…”

She covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes. Simon cursed himself. If he wasn’t so hurt he could reach out and comfort her. She rocked back and forth for a moment before sitting up, having composed herself.

“I’m sorry, I just, I still miss them so much. I lived with them for so long, and then they were gone. Then I lived on my own in my house and now…”

Simon came to a decision.

“I’m really sorry about what happened to your house. If I wasn’t an idiot I wouldn’t have gotten hurt, and then I could have kept the second Troll from destroying it. I feel like it’s my fault.”

“No…”

“And because of me, you have nowhere to live. I know that it’s difficult to find a place to stay, so I want to help you out anyway I can. You see, I have an extra tent. I’m not using it, and, well, I might as well let you have it. In fact, you might as well… come with me?”

“Come with you?”

He smiled at her, “Yeah. We’re friends, right? You don’t want to go on an adventure with your friend? You can cook, perform first aid, kill monsters, and kill boredom. I can’t think of anyone else I would want to adventure with.”

Simon watched as tears began to form in her eyes, but instead of crying, she began to laugh. Despite his ribcage feeling like it was about to burst open, he began to laugh as well. They were safe, and they had both found their next step in life. A friend.

* * *

Lucy was walking up the hill to the ruins of her house. Slung over her shoulder was a bag filled with memories, but plenty of space for new experiences. Salvation bounced on her hip in its holster.

She remembered when she and the other townsfolk had run up this hill and found Simon and mayor Gryffin’s bodies. Everybody seemed to think that the unconscious Simon must have caused this somehow and killed the mayor. She had been able to calm them down and show them the documents she had found.

Gryffin had apparently been hired to test a destructive power on the town. Once the town was destroyed, he would receive money from a mysterious “Lord” to pay off a huge debt he had.

The people calmed down after pouring over the documents, but they didn’t relax. Someone they had trusted had turned out to be conspiring against them, and they were heartbroken. The reconstruction of the town would be easy, but not the reconstruction of their sense of safety.

As much as she wanted to stay and help them get through it, she also knew that they would move forwards. Everyone had to move forwards in their own way. And her way was just over the hill.

Simon was standing between the ruins of her house and the edge of the forest. He was looked at a map and kept glancing between it and the forest. He seemed frustrated about something. He noticed Lucy, however, smiled, and began to wave.

“Ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be. You look stressed, is something wrong?”

Simon scratched his head, “Yeah, something's been bugging me. Those Trolls should have never come here, but they did anyway. Plus there was this whole green thing with their eyes…”

“Oh, you mean this.” She pulled the small green stone out of her pocket.

“What?!”

“I kind of found it in the mayor’s office. If you can believe it, I think it attracted the Trolls.”

Simon took the crystal in his hands, “I actually can believe it. That mayor… Anyway, I have no idea what this is. A crystal that attracts monsters or something? In the wrong hands, this could be a dangerous tool.” He opened his bag and placed the crystal inside.

“Wait, won’t monsters start coming after us?”

“No, the inside of my bag doesn’t really exist, remember? We’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“No. But if I’m wrong, we’ll find out really soon.”

She chuckled, “Why did I decide to go adventuring with such an idiot?”

“Well it’s too late to change your mind, our first destination is already set!”

“And where would that be?”

“The town of Dawnbell! It’s a strange little town, but it should have plenty of adventuring supplies for our journey! I’m so excited!”

He pointed one arm forwards and lifted his map into the air. He looked back and smiled at Lucy. At that moment, she knew that this was the best choice of her life.

“Let’s go! Another adventure awaits!”